By Fred the Mathemusician from Pennsylvania, USA on 8/1/2008

I bought the Multifunction Travel Alarm Clock yesterday and used the snooze alarm to wake myself up today. The alarm is loud enough to wake me up, but not so loud that it's obnoxious or jarring. The alarm beeps gently at first (beep-beep, pause, beep-beep, pause...) for eight seconds. If you don't respond to that, it starts beeping continuously (beep-beep-beep-beep...) until you turn it off.Here are my general impressions of the product: The Multifunction clock is elegant, well-designed, compact, and light-weight. In addition to the time, it also displays the inside temperature, month, date, and day of the week. The folding cover serves as a sturdy stand when the clock is in use and protects the large, readable LCD display when traveling. The big snooze/light button on the top of the clock is easy to push and illuminates the whole display with a cool blue light. When closed, the cover prevents the snooze/light button from being pushed by accident and draining the AAA battery.I usually like to shop online, but this time, I decided to go to a Radio Shack store and look at travel alarm clocks in person -- I'm glad I did. I compared the Multifunction clock to the Presidian Atomic Travel Alarm Clock (63-170), which supposedly does a little more and costs a little less. The Multifunction clock has a much better feel to it than the Presidian (something you cannot tell from shopping online). The main thing I didn't like about the Presidian is the controls -- the Presidian's buttons are NOT easy to push, and there are only five buttons (for example, only + and - buttons instead of separate controls for hr, min, month, date, year, etc.).The Multifunction clock has the main controls located conveniently on the top (the snooze/light button) and the side (the three-position snooze/alarm on/alarm off switch). The less frequently used controls are located on the back, underneath the battery cover, which protects the clock from accidental changes to the time, alarm, and date. The back controls include four buttons (hr, min, 12/24, C/F, which also control month, date, year) and a four-position switch (lock, time set, alarm set, calendar). The clock is so easy to use that I was able to figure out how to set the date, time, alarm, and display modes without reading the instructions.There is only one small design flaw in the Multifunction clock -- you have to take off the battery cover to check the alarm time. I consider this a minor inconvenience. If this really bugs you, you can just leave the battery cover in your suitcase -- the clock will work just fine without it.I would give this clock 4.5 stars if possible. For a perfect 5 star rating, I would ask the manufacturer to add one new feature: I'd like it to display the alarm time for a few seconds when you first switch the alarm on with the side switch -- that way, you wouldn't have to take off the battery cover to check the alarm time. If the clock had that one extra feature, it would be perfect! Even without that feature, the clock is a great product, and I enthusiastically recommend it to everyone.

Bought it for my car. Has a great light, keeps time good. Who cares if you have to remove the back to change the time? That just keeps the idiots from hitting the wrong button and changing the time and being late. I'll buy another one for the office, and another one for the luggage.

I was going on another trip & my old clock was busted. I purchased an American Tourister clock for waaaaaay more than this one & it broke just trying to get it out of the box. The one from Radio Shack was easy to use, didn't drain my batteries & had a huge face. I should have trusted my first instinct & purchased the Radio Shack clock first.

This is an outstanding travel alarm clock! Mine has served me well for over three years, including extensive rough travel in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is compact, light, and illuminates brightly enough to serve as an in-room flashlight. And the (1) AAA battery I installed in 2004 is still going strong!

It is true that you must remove the back cover to change the time...this takes 1-2 seconds with one hand. I do not understand why anyone would object to this, becase the cover PROTECTS the buttons from being pushed accidently in transit--and that's what this is: a TRAVEL alarm clock.

This is an excellent product. I am buying a second one for a friend!

Inconvenient design, have to take the back off and manipulate small controls to set OR see the alarm time. Would not buy again.

Perfectly suitable as a desk clock, but lousy for travel. To change times requires removing a small plastic cover and manipulating many tiny switches. Same goes for simply CHECKING the alarm time. Extremely clumsy and inconvenient (and susceptible to error by a drowsy user), this is a poor design for regular travelers.

This was a great alarm clock...until I rolled over it accidentally and broke the folding cover. The cover is a bit flimsy, but you have to remember that this is a compact travel alarm clock. For my preferences, the display was great and the audible alarm was just about annyoing enough to wake me up from a deep sleep. [...]

Temp lasted 1 year then failed. (warranty expired)

I have owned this alarm for nearly 4 years and love it! I use it for day-to-day use at home and always take it along when traveling. It is true that you need to slide the back cover off to set the alarm time, but this has never bothered me. It has held up extremely well. I will definately buy another if/when this one finally dies.

Nice looking unit with cool blue light...BUT...can't see alarm setting and have to take off the back to set the alarm.

Gotta take back off to chane alarm, this makes it less than ideal for travel. Other than that it works great!!!

Doesn't display the alarm time -